Infographic: A History of Approved Therapeutic Antibodies

Which are the EMA-approved therapeutic antibodies? How about their targets and indications? The number is growing year after year — here is a timeline.

As medicine progresses into a new era of personalized therapy, therapeutic antibodies are leading the charge and have grown into a billion-euro industry. Antibodies present an attractive option for a wide variety of common diseases because of their specificity and flexibility. Major blockbusters like Humira, Remicade, MabThera, Avastin and Herceptin are therapeutic antibodies, which represent today the fastest growing group of biotechnology-derived molecules in clinical trials.

With the recent advancements in antibody engineering, we can expect to see an improvement of their half-lives, effector functions or incorporation into antibody-drug conjugates. Since the first antibody hits the market in 1986, there are currently 50 therapeutic antibodies with market approval from the EMA and thousands more in clinical trials. Here is a timeline of those approved so far! Click on this link to see the full infographic — we’d like to thank Arnaud Schlupp for the great design and implementation!